Russia's Recession Driven Diamond Stash

You can blame the global recession for the world’s largest diamond stockpile. Russia has topped De Beers as the world’s largest diamond producer this year with its refusal to go along with the European Union’s Antitrust Agreement.

De Beers is prohibited under its European Union antitrust agreement from stockpiling diamonds, and with rough diamond prices falling as much as 75% since last July, Russian owned Alrosa diamond company is situated to control the global diamond market.

De Beers withdrew from purchasing diamonds on the open market in 1999, and ceased purchasing diamonds mined by Russian company Alrosa, at the end of 2008.